Harland Ross
Harland Ross is the current sheriff of Hidalgo, Texas and runs the town with a distinct brand of honesty. Ross is also the co-founder of La Legión de la Gente which he lead to free Hidalgo from comanchero control. In Ross's 32 years of life he has been a Brahmin drover, scavenger, bartender, prize fighter, faro dealer, caravaneer, and bandit. What really makes Ross famous in the fact that he gunned down the famous King of Comancheros, Benedicto Aguado, in a fair gunfight. Harland's police force also holds a little fame for having other legends on the force, such as Two-Gun Billy. Biography Early Life Ross was born in Matamoros, Tamaulipas; a Mexican border town located across the Rio Grande from Fort Brown. Youthful Career When Harland was seventeen he left home to seek his fortune, leaving behind a family and his lover, Carmen Huerta. Ross eventually returned to his home town three years later to find his darling gone, captured in a slave raid. Ross, deeply self loathing because of his lack of commitment spent the next five years wandering miserably trying to make sense of his decisions. He walked north and south, from Louisiana to Mexico City in order to cope with his broken life. Time in the US Enrico Demarco Pizana With Ross barely escaping over the border with his life decided to continue on with no goal and hardly any scrap to pedal. Aimlessly, Harland soon found San Benito, a small town north of the border with a near friendly attitude, and sold his junk (what little he had after fleeing Mexico) and stopped at a local cantina to drink. Ross had lost everything, his lover, home, fame, friends (gang), and was now cast out of his own country. Ross celebrated his depressing life with shots of irradiated liquor and joined a poker game to ease his sadness. During this time he struck up a conversation and learned that Enrico Pizana had rolled through the day before and was headed for the Lexxx (Pizana could also have killed that caravan outside Ramirez). The significance behind this is that Pizana was believed to be behind the raid on Matamoros over a year ago. Ross continued to drink but now he had a mission, finally find Enrico Pizana and Carmen Huerta. The next morning Ross awoke with what he thought were all his belongings and stopped by a general store to spend his winnings before wandering along Route 77 towards the Lexxx. Ross spent nearly a week on the way to Corpus Christi (The Corpse). The days were long and hot and the nights dangerous and cold. Specifically one night aside a campfire Ross was stirring some Clint Y Brett Frijoles (Clint N Brett’s Beans) when three men surrounded Harland at gunpoint. Harland being a smart and quick man didn’t pull iron just to be shot so he waited, after checking out his camp one of the comancheros approached Ross. It was then that Ross kicked and spun the raider around, using his Type 93 to spray the other two with lead. With the last bandito terrorized Harland tied him up and interrogated the man, revealing where the group was from and who they were with. They were not comancheros but in fact a gang from the Corpse, the Annaville Reds. Harland shot the last bandit and moved on, even with his worries and doubt about how he’d cross the Corpse to get to the Lexxx. Robstown Massacre and the Lexxx After some time Harland arrived in the suburb of Robstown which was under siege by the Reds. The town wasn’t in very good shape and the northern edge was a warzone, despite this Ross was not shot on sight by the townsfolk even though he had a red rag poking out of his satchel. Since Robstown was extremely close to the Corpse Ross decided he’d stay just long enough to find some information on how to get through the city alive. Heading straight for the town hall, since Robstown didn’t seem to have any bars or saloons, Ross met the “mayor” of Robstown, Robert Barter (named after the town), who danced around Ross’s questions but promised to answer them if Harland would help defend the town first. With his fancy store and suave demeanor, Rob “the Robber of Robstown” was a self-named man who liked to talk business and could just about always get someone to do as asked rather cheaply. Ross seemed to hold his guns and cowboy hat like a professional pistolero which was what convinced Barter that Harland was the man to help them. After a useless debate Ross accepted Barter’s offer to which he revealed his plan. Robert would send some of his scarce manpower to piss off the Reds, Ross leading them, and once an attack began Ross would help defend the town and counter-attack. Since Barter had been planning this assault for months he was well prepared with ammo and guns. Robert’s men would leave in two days for the attack, which gave Ross time to think about how to handle getting involved in a war. Provided with ammo, a snazzy new repeater, and the cover of darkness Ross lead a group of six other men (two of them Flour Bluff Blues) just outside of Annaville’s guarded buildings. The group of seven crept up closer and closer, silently killing a few sentries before throwing explosives into several occupied homes on Violet Road almost in the heart of Annaville. With the group ready to split, Harland decided to cover his retreat back to Robstown, firing his guns the whole two miles south to Robstown. By the time the group got back the town was ready to defend itself, bottom windows barred up, snipers on roofs, rubble barriers, and even a few automatic rifles ready to go. Not five minutes later the Reds sprang a counterattack with over sixty armed men and forty-aught slaves out front charged head on into the gunfight. The slaves barely made a dent and only soaked up the defenders’ munitions while the Reds made real strives to assault the town. Ross fought side-by-side with Robert and realized that Robstown could not win because they were surrounded and outgunned. Robert also realized and signaled his men to use their secret weapon, a missile launcher, which only more holes in the town. With the battle dragging on for hours with both sides losing men left and right Harland made the decision to use the confusion and leave before it was too late. Ross held Robert at gunpoint since they were the only two in that building and asked once, “How do I get to the Lexxx through the Corpse?” to which Robert answered, “Through Gardendale or Flour Bluff, take the ferry!”. And as fast as Ross came he left, fighting his way east and impersonating a Red with his red rag, as expected the town was taken over and still lies silent as of 2281. The survivors of the incident taken as slaves and the new guns were used to terrorize the local on a new scale by the Reds. After a full day of fighting and fleeing Harland arrived in Gardendale unscathed and relayed the news to the Greens about the fate of Robstown. Even though, it was bad news Ross was thanked for defending Robstown and was offered a place to stay for the night. Harland couldn’t sleep though, not only did the constant fighting in Gardendale of the loosely controlled streets keep him up, but the fact that he’d arrive at the Lexxx tomorrow morning as well. As soon as dawn cracked on the new day and the smoke from Robstown could be seen Ross headed to the beach where he could catch a boat ride to the Lexxx. After paying a local fisherman Ross was able to cross Corpse Bay without incident, and with the Lexxx being neutral ground he was safe from any Red retribution. Upon arrival Harland walked onboard intent on finding out about Carmen or Enrico; he asked many slavers and had to pay fees when they would redirect him. Unfortunately Harland couldn’t find the right guy and returned to Gardendale to spend the night but was determined to find him. This continued for another six days until finally, a week into the search, Harland managed to find a ledger and bribe a slaver into giving up some information. Enrico Pizana did in fact stop by the Lexxx; Ross originally only missed him by eight or so hours. Couple dozen caps later the merc told Ross that Pizana only bought some slaves and no one by the name of Carmen Huerta had been bought or sold. The vagabond also mentioned that Pizana said he was headed for Houston on a raid and that one of the slaves did match Harland’s description. It took Ross another two weeks to reach Houston, stopping along the way in Victoria, Edna, El Campo, and Rosenberg. And it was here that Ross would raise hell to get his Carmen. Houston Harland first entered Houston at 10:06AM through route 59. Entering the downtown ruins it didn’t take long to figure out that there was a recent attack here. Although most of the buildings were hollowed radioactive skeletons of their former selves several blocks surrounding the George R Brown Convention Center all the way to the Law School had burn marks, blood stains, and bullet holes littering the buildings. People were already out burying their relatives, scaving, or re-opening shop. Ross wasted no time and talked to anyone he could. Many of them were rather unhelpful and still shell shocked from the killing spree. Despite the dwindling chaos Harland managed to find a shop on Dallas Street with a hardened old man who could help. He explained Pizana came parading through the streets wanting nothing less than whatever he could take. He pressured every person and store he came across to give him a tribute, while successful at first, this lead to violence quickly. One of Pizana’s men opened fire after an argument which triggered nothing less than a massacre. For over an hour the pandilla blasted holes and spat fire at people with bullets and grenades, then marched off east, enthused at their own violence. Harland thanked the man kindly for the knowledge and bought all the .45 caliber rounds and a blued pearl-grip Colt M1911 handgun. Ross wasted little time in getting through Houston but stopped many times to help injured and ward off any raiders trying to prey on the weak. After all, Ross did not want anyone else to suffer at Enrico Pizana’s amoral hands. And so Harland followed in his tracks and could see the city behind him by dusk. Harland headed east, following the highway for one full night and day before finding a campfire on the second night. It lied atop a hill just north of Interstate 10. In the dead of the harsh Texan night Ross crept his way up a hill to hear laugher and screaming, the laughs male and the screams female. Ruger and Colt drawn Harland watched from an adjacent hilltop trying to make out the situation. Several ragged tents and a fire sat across the trough with over a dozen people scrambling about. It seemed the men were drunk and drinking, given away by their stupor and lack of balance. There were several women present who were trying not to be raped, but as Ross could see very plainly it was not working. He couldn’t make out faces but nonetheless suspected Pizana and in the pitch black made his way down the slope and up the crest to the campsite. He scanned carefully using the radiance of the campfire to aid him. He could see several young Mexican men raping and chasing what seemed to be their slaves. Harland was getting anxious, angry, what if Carmen was one of them? He got up slowly and advanced, guns drawn, lips dry, fingers on the triggers. This is when Ross saw Enrico Demarco Pizana very clearly, raping a young beautiful girl. Pizana did not notice Ross; he was too busy forcefully pleasuring himself. She cried in Spanish. Ross saw her lips move, but heard nothing. She looked like Carmen, no, it was Carmen. Pizana was raping her right in front of Harland. His ears wrung, his vision got fuzzy, his throat dry, in what seemed to be an absolute fuzzy silence Ross raised his gun in rage. With his .45 Ruger Blackhawk and .45 Colt M1911, Harland opened fire blindly, striking Pizana in the face twice before targeting the others. Harland waltzed and blasted through the campsite uncontrollably. Harland shot five before anyone else got a shot off. The entire event blurred into a red mist of adrenaline and blood. Harland thought he could see them almost in slow motion, the shock on their faces, grabbing their weapons, grabbing human shields. Ross didn’t consider it, didn’t notice it. He shot anything that moved. Shoot to kill! Bang! Another dead. Boom! Another hole. Ross felt a smack behind him, blood ran down his neck. He fired his guns anyway. A sting came sharply running up his abdomen. Didn’t matter, Ross’s body went numb. The only Harland could feel was the rage and guilt of chasing the piece of shit for years trying to find his love. Ross’s body burned in agony as he fired on the last comancheros. He could feel waves of concussion run through his body, nearly falling to his knees. Harland did not stop firing. What happened? Ross didn’t know. He was completely covered in blood, it dripped off every finger, the barrels of his guns, it ran down his boots, it was in his eyes, he spat it, he breathed it, he loved it. As he looked around he noticed how the landscape had changed, by now several tents had caught fire and Ross could see in great detail and illumination what he had done. Twelve men, half of them teenagers, and two young girls not even eighteen lied brutally dead. They all had bullet holes in them; some bodies had three or four wounds each. One man was decapitated, by his own machete. Ross didn’t remember doing that, he… didn’t even let go his guns, did he? Next to him, a women had been shoved aside, she fell, head split in two on a rock. Who did this, Ross didn’t shoot any women? It was a mystery; Ross remembered so little, as if drugged. The adrenaline faded and the anxiety hit. Ross felt nauseous and noticed the blood was still flowing, like a trickling stream from several parts of his body. He lifted his jacket to find several holes and a still buried knife near his appendix. His head felt worse, collapsed to his knees, and threw up. He felt the back of his head, blood, more nausea, a migraine. Was it the disgust from the bodies he murdered, or the pain in his head that triggered him to puke, maybe both? The next second Ross tried to get up, it burned, his eyes welled up with boiling hot tears. Ross collapsed a second time and blacked out, hitting the ground with a thud. The Girl The Big Easy Arrival Boxing Career The Big Fight San Antonio Mexican Militia Battle of the Comanchero Capital Heading Home Hidalgo Most of this section is taken from Hidalgo, to see more click here. Arrival When Harland entered Hidalgo he entered with a pack brahmin loaded with old hunting rifle parts he had scavenged from a shack in Mexico hoping to make some coin. All accounts agree that he went to the Dynasty Saloon and what he saw that evening prompted him to set in motion the events that would overthrow Aguado. And it was in the Dynasty Saloon where Harland found his lover again, the beautiful Carmen Huerta. She had been taken a slaver five years ago and Ross had an immediate revival of feelings for his old flame and immediately set about a way to try to spring her free from captivity. The owner of the Dynasty Saloon was no other than Emilio Aguado, kid brother of Benedicto Aguado. Harland was unable to buy his love and realized that stealing her would result in him and Carmen being hunted down by her the men of her former owner’s brother. After a week of thought Harland decided that he could live the rest of his life as a drifter or help do something to clean up the town of Hidalgo and marry his love. Thus he decided to do what he saw as most rational, begin a rebellion against the most powerful bandito in South Texas. La Legión de la Gente Few people know that La Legión de la Gente, or The People's Legion was actually founded in Hidalgo a year before their bloody and infamous war with Rey Cristobal began. It was founded in the cellar of a cardhouse by Harland Ross, Pancho Mendoza, and five other residents of Hidalgo, tired of Aguado's bloody and corrupt criminal junta. The goals of the People's Legion were quite simple, overthrow Benedicto Aguado and drive out the comanchero scum that had turned Hidalgo into a den of criminal vice. The Legion was funded with money from Mendoza's cardhouse and that money quickly went to buying guns, ammunition, supplies, and explosives as they covertly prepared for battle. Invitations were extended to those citizens of Hidalgo who were not involved in criminal enterprises such as working men and honest store owners who actually outnumbered the criminals but were no match in terms of firepower. Mendoza and Ross both began recruiting and arming men and women, setting up sniper's nests in some of their houses, medicine stashes in dumpsters near the homes of sympathizers, and weapon caches in the closets of those loyal to the idea of liberty for Hidalgo. Every week for two months the members of the legion would meet outside of town for drilling and target practice until soon they numbered near two hundred people, all of them ready to fight the comancheros, pimps, drug dealers, and smugglers who had oppressed them for over three decades. With advantage in numbers and devotion The People's Legion bade their time until November the sixth, when all the Comancheros in town as well as most of the other unsavory elements were celebrating the birthday of their Comanchero king. Second Battle of Hidalgo The Second Battle of Hidalgo was quick and brutal, all the comancheros in town thought that the gunshots they heard were merely celebratory (as excessive celebratory gunfire was normal in Hidalgo) and didn't realize that an army of angry paisanos was shooting their way through town. Raiding dens of vice, freeing slaves, and handing out weapons to any and all willing to fight. The near two hundred strong army grew to well over two hundred and fifty when they charged the hospital that Aguado had won his victory in so many years previously. Led by Harland Ross, the drifter turned general, the People's Legion swarmed the compound as they engaged in bloody close range gunplay. The comancheros were caught unaware and drunk and stood no match as many were hacked apart with machetes and shot in the head. The only man who managed to hold his own was Aguado himself. With his pair of .44 magnums he was said to have killed nine men before the fighting stopped and he challenged Ross to a showdown. What happened next was like something out of an old 19th century dime novel. The last comanchero stared down Ross Harland as an entire small army stood to the side. Harland ordered that if he were to die that Aguado be let go before the duel. The two men paced in a circle around each other for near four minutes before Aguado drew his gun on Ross, who was too slow. By the time Harland drew, Aguado's bullet was long gone, flying past Harland's head. Aguado made the typical mistake, he tried to get the first shot instead of the first hit. He had drawn at a speed to rival Wild Bill himself and had missed, Ross drew relatively quick but aimed and was able to fire a shot right into Aguado's chest, killing the King of the Comancheros instantly. With that shot from a pre-War Mexican army revolver, Harland Ross became a legend and Hidalgo became free. Aftermath Once Aguado was killed the town quickly celebrated. Ross assumed the role of sheriff with his new wife, Carmen. With Hidalgo liberated by a paisano army and their leader just-married many would call the event the ultimate love story. This new legend of the wasteland attracted many visitors to town after that battle to see if the legends were true. Ross saw the opportunity and told every caravan that if they stayed the night in Hidalgo they could take one firearm of their choosing from the comancheros stockpile. For the next six months some made out with high quality assault rifles as the hotels gained money from renters, gamblers, drinkers, and dining patrons. Northwestern Corridor Los Diamondbacks Battle of Eagle Point General Raul Vasquez Peacekeeper's Pass The Fighting 33rd Raid of Fort Falcone Crossfire Battle of Bloody Gulch Nueva Administracion Federal Present Personality Appearance Equipment Category:Characters Category:Mexico Category:Tamaulipas